Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s19.t2: B. — Medial vowels and so forth
Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s19.t2
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B. — Medial vowels and so forth
c7.s19.t2.1
(1) Medial *ā*, *e*, *o*, *au*, as well as one of the Mātrās of *ai*, are placed very frequently above the line, and are then, particularly in the stone inscriptions, treated more or less ornamentally (see, *e. g.*, plate IV, cols. XIII—XVIII). More rarely, medial *i* and *ī* are treated in the same way.
c7.s19.t2.2
(2) The tails of the curves of medial *i* and *ī* are regularly drawn down low, respectively to the left and the right of the Mātṛkā, while the differences in the curves at the top disappear. These forms lead up to the *i* and *ī* of the modern Devanāgarī.
c7.s19.t2.3
(3) Medial *ū* is expressed very frequently by the initial *Ū* of the period (plate IV, 30, XII, XIV, XVI, XX; VI, 44, VI). [56] But an older form, found, *e. g.*, in *pū* (IV, 27, VI), is also common and appears to be the parent of the modern *ū*, which occurs already in the western palm-leaf MSS. (see *pū*, plate VI, 35, XVI).
c7.s19.t2.4
(4) Since the 7th century,¹ — first on the Banskherā plate of Harṣa, — the Jihvāmūlīya is occasionally expressed by a cursive sign, consisting of a loop under the wedge of *ka* (plate V, 47, III).
c7.s19.t2.5
¹ Compare the facsimile of the Jhālrāpāṭan inscription, IA. 5, 180; see also IA. 13, 162.
c7.s19.t2.6
(5) Since the 7th century, the Upadhmanīya is occasionally expressed by a curve open above, with curled ends and sometimes with a dot in the centre. This sign is attached to the left side of the Mātṛkā (plate IV, 46, XXIII; V, 48, VII). It seems to be derived from a form like that in plate VII, 46, IV.
c7.s19.t2.7
(6) In the older inscriptions, the Virāma is still frequently placed above the vowelless consonant, for which invariably a final form is used; and it receives a tail, which is drawn downwards to the right of the Mātṛkā (see, *e. g.*, plate IV, 22, XIV). But even more commonly it stands below the consonant, and it occurs in this position already in the inscriptions with transitional forms (plate IV, 22, XI).²
c7.s19.t2.8
² This is the regular form since the 9th century.